The Killer?

The important evidence was discovered around 3pm. That was halfway through the afternoon and before dinnertime, so it was the time of the day when people were most relaxed and most free.

Everyone moved at top speed. By the time Song Caitang got to Gao Zhuo’s residence, the entire place was filled with people.

The officials like Zhao Zhi, Governor Li, Governor Zhang and Wen Yuansi, Coroner Sun, Judge Guo and everyone connected to the case were all gathered here. No one was left out.

The secret compartment had been opened and the writings and paintings were all over the floor. Some were half rolled up, some were unrolled, and some had been accidentally torn – they took up almost half the yard. The object of the paintings was a fresh faced beauty, and anybody here was able to recognize her as Yun Nianyao.

Gao Zhuo stood before the things in the yard with a furious look on his face, “Who gave you the authority to search my room!”

He looked rather upset as he squatted down and rolled up the painting closest to him, then took a piece of string and got ready to tie it back up nicely.

But before he could really do any of these, someone dashed out from the crowd and knocked him down hard.

“Who gave you permission to paint Yaoyao!” Qi Zhaoyuan’s eyes were bloodshot, “She’s my wife! MINE!”

“And what are all these paintings even?! And how dare you write such nonsense! Gao Zhuo, you must be tired of living!”

He raised his fists and punched Gao Zhuo really hard. This time, he was truly enraged and it didn’t take long for him to punch Gao Zhuo hard enough for him to start bleeding.

Gao Zhuo was no match for Qi Zhaoyuan, and while he could stand his ground in front of other people about this matter, he really didn’t have the confidence to even face Qi Zhaoyun.

He curled himself into a ball and allowed Qi Zhaoyuan to punch him.

Not only was his face red, but his ears were red too. He probably felt ashamed.

“I just missed Yaoyao too much…and sometimes I drank a little too much…”

“You’re not allowed to think of her even if you’re drunk!” Qi Zhaoyuan glared sinisterly at him, “She’s not somebody you should think about at all!”

There were a few among the paintings where she was dressed a little more scantily, so a large part of her neck was exposed and her figure could be vaguely seen. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what the painter was thinking about.

Qi Zhaoyuan and Yun Nianyao were husband and wife who had consummated their marriage, so he knew what her body looked like best. He just had to take one glance at the paintings and he knew the paintings weren’t accurate, because they were too far off from his wife. These were clearly a result of Gao Zhuo’s imagination and Gao Zhuo had never actually seen what she looked like.

Others might be able to empathise with Gao Zhuo and forgive him for having such thoughts because he was so in love with her but could not have her. But not Qi Zhaoyuan.

Even though that was the most scandalous the paintings got, he refused to allow anyone to think of his wife in such a manner!

And those writings too – those thoughts about how he was too scared, how he was willing to destroy everything if he couldn’t have her, how he could have her to himself if he locked her up…

“Yaoyao…did you kill her? Were you the one who killed Yaoyao?!”

Qi Zhaoyuan grit his teeth and his voice trembled.

Gao Zhuo was even angrier than he was, “It wasn’t me! How could I have killed her? I hoped that she would live well and be happy for the rest of her life! I was even willing to move far away from her so that she could live in bliss and without worry! Why would I kill her?!”

As the two men fought and argued, Coroner Sun and Judge Guo exchanged pleased glances.

Judge Guo looked at Governor Li, “Congratulations, Governor Li, looks like we’ve solved this case.”

Governor Li stroked his beard with a pleased look in his eyes, but he also felt some regret.

If he had known the case could be solved this easily, then he wouldn’t have given it up to Zhao Zhi!

He put on a fake smile as he turned to look at Zhao Zhi, “Looks like we’ve got sufficient evidence and Surveillance Commissioner Zhao won’t need to spend too much effort on this case.”

Governor Li was determined to squeeze whatever credit he could for himself. The king of chaos had fallen out of favour and couldn’t make a comeback, so he didn’t need good work reviews. But he needed them!

It would be best if Zhao Zhi lost his temper or became unreasonable. Then he could display how he was good at abiding by the rules and conclude this case perfectly. He would reap all the benefits!!

But things didn’t turn out that way at all. Zhao Zhi didn’t even look at him, never mind say anything.

Zhao Zhi was frowning and looking at Song Caitang.

Song Caitang had an equally grim look as she watched the two men fight each other in the yard.

Those who knew her would know that she was probably in deep thought, but those who didn’t would think that she was disappointed and had admitted defeat.

Someone like…Coroner Sun.

Ever since Song Caitang was discovered to be really good at dissecting bodies and getting clues, it had been hard for him to walk with his head high as a coroner and he had been so downtrodden. But now, he could raise his head high again!

“What did I say back then? The evidence was all pointing toward Gao Zhuo and he fit best into all the different conjectures we had! If he’s not the killer, then who could it be?”

Coroner Sun stared straight at Song Caitang and scoffed, “Young ones have a worldview too narrow and too little experience. Having too much confidence in yourself isn’t a good thing. You’ve got plenty more to learn.”

So what if she could dissect a body? Besides showing off her skills, doing that was completely useless! The killer was Gao Zhuo! His first accusation had turned out to be correct!

Song Caitang was not angered by his words. She straightened her sleeves out and remained calm, “Looks like Coroner Sun thinks that he has reached the pinnacle of knowledge and has read everything the world has to offer, so he doesn’t need to be humble and teachable anymore.”

“You couldn’t crack the case, so there’s no point in insulting me now.” Coroner Sun raised his chin as he looked at Gao Zhuo with a big grin on his face, “Besides your ability to dissect bodies, your sewing skills aren’t too bad. If you can’t become a coroner, you could still become an embroiderer. But that’s not the case for me, since I’ve been in this line all my life. I have never made a wrong judgement, so the authorities can’t do without me.”

Song Caitang’s gaze deepened and glowed an amber colour in the sunshine. She looked mysterious and distant, and even her voice was lower than usual, “Is this case really cracked? It might be too early to celebrate, Coroner Sun.”

This wave of evidence had appeared too suddenly. Just like what Gao Zhuo had said earlier, given that there was no concrete evidence and no search warrant, as well as his social standing, there was no reason for anyone to search his things and room like that.

She thought about the details she had heard earlier when she just arrived. Apparently, someone had given a justice department runner a tipoff, and in order to get extra credit, the runner had secretly searched Gao Zhuo’s room when he wasn’t in, found the stash and told everyone about it…

Who gave the runner that tipoff?

When she saw how Gao Zhuo was being beaten so badly that his face was swollen and bleeding and he couldn’t even fight back, Madam Ji started getting antsy.

“It’s not him…he’s such a good person, so how could he commit murder…”

She bit her lower lip and glowered at Qi Zhaoyuan, as though she was going to tear him apart any moment.

Madam Ge sighed and pulled at Madam Ji’s hand, then shook her head, “I don’t believe it either, but the officials are all here.”

This was not a place where womenfolk could intervene or even speak up.

Perhaps he was finally tired of getting beaten up. Gao Zhuo let out a loud shout as he pushed Qi Zhaoyuan off himself and started wailing loudly while sitting on the ground.

“I didn’t kill Yaoyao!”

“I didn’t!”

He wiped his tears away roughly with his sleeve, then glared at Qi Zhaoyuan with bloodshot eyes, “I liked her for 20 years! I watched her grow from a tiny person all the way until she became a charming young woman! I was with her for a whole 20 years! Even when you weren’t around, I never left!”

“I know that in spring, she loves the peach blossoms in the western mountains the most and she would go there in the third month of the year to personally pick the flowers and make peach flower wine. She got lost once while chasing after a little bunny and sat down by the stream and cried so miserably – I was the one who found her and brought her home!”

“I know that in summer, she loves the spring water of Qingliang Temple and she said that using that water to make tea was best for expelling body heat. But every time she got herself some of that water, she wouldn’t bear to drink it herself and gave it all to her elders instead. I secretly got someone to send some to her and she still didn’t dare to use it. She asked a lot of questions and did a thorough investigation because she wanted to know exactly who was noticing her.”

“I know that she’s collected an entire book of autumn leaves and has written melodies and lyrics in it because those are the times when she’s worried about her daughter. She’s never performed them in front of anybody, not even you.”

“I know where she has made snowmen before in Winter, what the snowmen look like, and what words she wrote in the snow next to it…”

“I know that she likes the roast goose from Li’s Eatery and the snacks from Wang’s Eatery the best, and I know what scenery she likes the most at which time of the year…”

“I was there through almost all of her life! But what about you? How much do YOU know?”

The veins on Gao Zhuo’s forehead bulged as he pointed a finger at Qi Zhaoyuan, “When we were children, you loved to bully her! Then you suddenly went to the military without saying anything, and then when you returned, you asked for her hand in marriage! What right did you have to do that!”

“But…but she liked you.”

Blood dribbled out of Gao Zhuo’s mouth and flowed down his neck with his tears, “When she agreed to marry you, I wanted to kill you, then take her away from the capital. Where we went didn’t matter, since I would never bully her and I would take care of her for the rest of her life. But when I saw her smile, I just knew it wasn’t possible.”

“Her smile then was prettier than any other time I’ve seen her smile. She told me that even though she treated me as her older brother, we weren’t actually from the same family. She was going to get married, so I couldn’t piggyback her onto her sedan and she couldn’t just meet me when she wanted, and that we couldn’t be so carefree anymore. She told me sternly that even though wine wasn’t a bad thing, it could damage my health and I shouldn’t drink too much. She said my level of self control was too poor and I had to find a fierce wife to watch over me. She said that as children, we were young and ignorant and always spent time together, and she never forgot those times even after we had all grown up, saying that growing up was such a downer. Then she said that when we grow old and are no longer under the pressure of societal expectations, we ought to have a reunion. She even said that it would be such a pity if we were good friends and we didn’t betroth our children to one another, so she told me to hurry up, get married and have children, then once our children were engaged, she wouldn’t have to worry about them anymore…”

As his voice trailed off, Gao Zhuo suddenly buried his face in his hands and wailed even more loudly.

“All these years…what have I done…I didn’t listen to her…I drank so much wine, I didn’t find a woman to marry and didn’t have a son…what is going to happen to Xiaoman now? Who will she marry in the future? She’s now a child with no mother, so it’s going to be hard for her to get married. And if she gets a stepmother, she will get step siblings too…what if she falls out of your favour in the future? What is my Xiaoman going to do…”

“I really regret this…”

He pounded his own chest hard and spat a mouthful of blood out.

The daughter that Qi Zhaoyuan and Yun Nianyao had together was named Xiaoman and she was six years old this year.

Qi Zhaoyuan wanted to say that he would take care of his own daughter and Gao Zhuo needn’t worry about that, but when he saw the blood that Gao Zhuo had vomited all over the ground, he didn’t say anything.

The words that Gao Zhuo had said had broken him, and it had stabbed into Qi Zhaoyuan’s heart too.

“I’m sorry…” Gao Zhuo’s voice was trembling and he could barely hold it together, “I wasn’t able to protect her…

“I was already here…yet I allowed her to leave this world in such a terrible manner…”

Gao Zhuo’s crying was so tragic, even the most hardhearted people in the crowd felt bad saying anything now.

Governor Zhang sighed quietly, “Poor thing.”

Wen Yuansi fell into deep thought and his first instinct was to turn and look at Song Caitang.

But Song Caitang sensed Zhao Zhi looking at her, so she turned to look back at him.

Their brows were furrowed and their gazes were downcast. The emotion in their eyes was the same.

This evidence had been obtained way too easily and Gao Zhuo…didn’t seem to be the killer.

Of course, whether one was a killer or not depended on facts and clues, not whether they looked like one or not.

These things weren’t enough to convict Gao Zhuo as a murderer, but it was enough to name him as a prime suspect and he could be detained for that.

Coroner Sun and Judge Guo were overjoyed and were already signalling to the runners with their eyes to get the handcuffs.

Among the people in the crowd, Madam Ji behaved the most strangely.

She was crying.

Unlike how Gao Zhuo felt so much regret as he spoke fondly about Yun Nianyao, her tears were flowing down rapidly, but her lips were turned upward into a sarcastic, jealous smile..

The runners came close with handcuffs in hand. And just when they were about to handcuff Gao Zhuo, Madam Ji suddenly spoke up.

“WAIT!”

Her voice was like a grenade in the crowd. Everyone was shocked and turned to look at her.

She took two steps forward and stared at Coroner Sun and Judge Guo, “You two made a bet with Song Caitang, didn’t you? You lost the bet over the examination of the body, so you’re trying to exert your authority here?”

Coroner Sun snorted twice, “The decisions of the authorities are none of your business. And the evidence we’ve found today is clearly incriminating, so we’re taking Gao Zhuo back with us! Everyone else, please move aside!”

But Madam Ji refused to back down and tried to move further forward. Madam Ge frowned and pulled her arm back, “The authorities have to do their work, so stop being a nuisance. You can’t stop them…”

“Humph!” Madam Ji flung Madam Ge’s hand off her, “Who says I’m being a nuisance?”

“Gao Zhuo! Are you willing to let yourself be wrongly accused and die just like that?!”

By this time, Gao Zhuo had stopped crying and his face was completely blank, as though his soul had left him. He didn’t look at anybody at all as he murmured, “Yaoyao is dead, so there’s nothing for me to live for…going to where she is now sounds like a good idea…”

Madam Ji clenched her teeth and her expression grew more and more twisted.

“I…will…not…ALLOW…THIS!”

She yelled so loudly, not only did she get the attention of the crowd, but even Gao Zhuo snapped out of his daze and looked up. Everyone seemed to have the same thing written on their faces – what right do you have to disallow this?

Madam Ji straightened her back and loudly declared the most shocking words in the world.

“Because I’M the one who killed Yun Nianyao!”